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View Full Version : Where is mark Langston jr?



1azarus
06-22-2018, 21:22
... apparently missing in Massachusetts since the 12th... thru hiker from Texas. Last seen on greylock.

nsherry61
06-22-2018, 22:39
Probably got trapped or distracted by a magical spell. After all, Mount Greylock is not necessarily as it appears to us non-magical types (https://www.pottermore.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/ilvermorny).

I found this entrance on one of the side trails off the AT last November while hiking up there. I'm 6'4", and that's me in the tree. Nothing happened when I stepped in, but that is probably because I'm not magical.
42963

Also, go ahead, tell me there isn't somehow something kinda mysterious or magical or otherwise just not quite pedestrian about this tower. Just look closely at that crystal globe at the top. There's no way that's not some kind of magical orb.

42964

nsherry61
06-23-2018, 08:59
Here are some more details (https://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/06/massachusetts_police_seek_publ.html). Hoping he's okay.

John B
06-23-2018, 11:30
Actually, I don't think there is anything magical or mysterious on Greylock.

This was posted:

UPDATE: WE HAVE MADE CONTACT WITH MARK NEAR RUTLAND, VT AND ALL IS OK. HE HAS MADE CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY. THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE SHARES AS IT WAS A HIKER ON THE TRAIL THAT BROUGHT THE SITUATION TO MARK'S ATTENTION.

Puddlefish
06-23-2018, 11:41
Looks like another hiker gets the trail name "Milk Carton."

Durwood
06-23-2018, 12:45
Looks like another hiker gets the trail name "Milk Carton."

Choo-choo has checked in with family and Williamstown PD.

tdoczi
06-23-2018, 12:56
Actually, I don't think there is anything magical or mysterious on Greylock.

This was posted:

UPDATE: WE HAVE MADE CONTACT WITH MARK NEAR RUTLAND, VT AND ALL IS OK. HE HAS MADE CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY. THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE SHARES AS IT WAS A HIKER ON THE TRAIL THAT BROUGHT THE SITUATION TO MARK'S ATTENTION.
bizarre story on many levels. guy has made it all the way to almost the VT border by june 12th and then it takes him 2 weeks to go a little over 100 miles? dude was not just hiking along that whole time.

whatever he was doing not sure why he thought radio silence was better than just telling his family a story about his whereabouts.

rocketsocks
06-23-2018, 14:53
bizarre story on many levels. guy has made it all the way to almost the VT border by june 12th and then it takes him 2 weeks to go a little over 100 miles? dude was not just hiking along that whole time.

whatever he was doing not sure why he thought radio silence was better than just telling his family a story about his whereabouts.trail trist?

gpburdelljr
06-23-2018, 15:52
bizarre story on many levels. guy has made it all the way to almost the VT border by june 12th and then it takes him 2 weeks to go a little over 100 miles? dude was not just hiking along that whole time.

whatever he was doing not sure why he thought radio silence was better than just telling his family a story about his whereabouts.
Actually he was only missing 10 days (12th to 22nd). A couple of zeros, and sore feet or knees could easily explain 100+ miles in 10 days.

tdoczi
06-23-2018, 16:21
Actually he was only missing 10 days (12th to 22nd). A couple of zeros, and sore feet or knees could easily explain 100+ miles in 10 days.

combined with not contacting his family, which he had been doing regularly and apparently they were expecting him to be in touch?

Durwood
06-23-2018, 16:37
Thank goodness he's safe and his folks aren't terrified anymore. I don't wish to see judgment on how a guy 4 months into his thru hike spends his time in town.

This is a valuable network for sharing information that may help us find a hiker. It's sad that outside speculation brings his motive into question. That's why most of us hit the trail in the first place, to leave judgment behind.

The guy took some time off. Period. Let his family admonish him for not staying in touch. It used to be a sabbatical, a break from constant contact....

tdoczi
06-23-2018, 16:47
The guy took some time off. Period. Let his family admonish him for not staying in touch. It used to be a sabbatical, a break from constant contact....

oh i'm with that 100%, trust me. but this guy apparently made a habit of being in contact and had an arrangement with his family where they were obviously expecting to hear from him. and then he vanished and didnt just worry his family, but caused people to start searching for him. thats not exactly ok behavior that should get a pass. learn to lie to your family if you dont want them knowing your business. or never agree to be talking to them all the time in the first place.

i take all of the above back if, by chance, his family over reacted and this was a simple matter of "we hear from mark every week and this week we didnt." and there was actually no formal arrangement and agreement to be in touch at a certain time.

gpburdelljr
06-23-2018, 16:52
combined with not contacting his family, which he had been doing regularly and apparently they were expecting him to be in touch?

We don’t know enough details, as is typical in such cases, to start assuming anything, or being critical of this hiker. The article said he had been making Instagram posts every few days, and quit on the 12th, but it doesn’t say whether he did, or did not, tell his family that he would always post every few days. We simply do not know the facts.

Durwood
06-23-2018, 17:28
A person 1600+ miles into their thru is NOT using the same logical thinking as the person that is operating in our normal world. He has been removed for months now. He probably has a different view of communicating.

I hope other LD hikers can back me on this, sometimes things get kind of weird. I don't endorse scaring the crap out your family, I just have empathy for this hiker at this point in his journey.

tdoczi
06-23-2018, 17:58
We don’t know enough details, as is typical in such cases, to start assuming anything, or being critical of this hiker. The article said he had been making Instagram posts every few days, and quit on the 12th, but it doesn’t say whether he did, or did not, tell his family that he would always post every few days. We simply do not know the facts.

to me this is the key sentence- "Mark Langston Jr., of Houston, has missed all family check-ins since June 12 and his phone is off"

if this means "mark said he'd contact us every friday and we have now not heard from him two fridays in a row" thats one thing.

if this means "mark usually talks to us on friday. i'm worried we haven't heard from him." thats another.

in either case its a shame the police had to be bothered over nothing

gpburdelljr
06-23-2018, 20:39
to me this is the key sentence- "Mark Langston Jr., of Houston, has missed all family check-ins since June 12 and his phone is off"

if this means "mark said he'd contact us every friday and we have now not heard from him two fridays in a row" thats one thing.

if this means "mark usually talks to us on friday. i'm worried we haven't heard from him." thats another.

in either case its a shame the police had to be bothered over nothing



My point is that we don’t know, and probably never will, so there is no point in guessing and criticizing based on that guess. Too much of that went on with Inchworm.

Traffic Jam
06-23-2018, 20:41
Geez... are y'all parents? I dont have a “formal arrangement” with my kids but if weeks went by with no communication, I’d be freaking out.

Thank goodness it was “nothing”.

tdoczi
06-23-2018, 20:50
My point is that we don’t know, and probably never will, so there is no point in guessing and criticizing based on that guess. Too much of that went on with Inchworm.
i'm not sure my calling it a "bizarre story" is a criticism, per se

tdoczi
06-23-2018, 20:52
Geez... are y'all parents? I dont have a “formal arrangement” with my kids but if weeks went by with no communication, I’d be freaking out.

Thank goodness it was “nothing”.
by saying "nothing" are you implying it was "something"?

cause it wasn't. seems like it didnt even take 5 mins for someone to find this guy and tell him to call home.

gpburdelljr
06-23-2018, 20:56
bizarre story on many levels. guy has made it all the way to almost the VT border by june 12th and then it takes him 2 weeks to go a little over 100 miles? dude was not just hiking along that whole time.

whatever he was doing not sure why he thought radio silence was better than just telling his family a story about his whereabouts.


i'm not sure my calling it a "bizarre story" is a criticism, per se
You did more than call it a bizarre story. Taken all together it sure looks like a criticism.

EDIT: To be more clear on what I mean. You called the story “bizzare”,said “the dude was not just hiking along that whole time”, and suggested he should have just told his family a story (i.e lie), thus implying that he was up to something he didn’t want to tell his family about. Sure sounds like criticism to me.

Traffic Jam
06-23-2018, 21:40
by saying "nothing" are you implying it was "something"?

cause it wasn't. seems like it didnt even take 5 mins for someone to find this guy and tell him to call home.
It’s somethng until proven that it’s nothing. I don't know a parent who hasn't had a sleepless night worrying about their kid, sure that their worst fears have come true...and sometimes they’re right.

TNhiker
06-24-2018, 03:44
cause it wasn't. seems like it didnt even take 5 mins for someone to find this guy and tell him to call home.



It took a little longer than 5 minutes as in FB there were postings about him maybe starting on Thursday or so...

but yes, I see what you mean by not a long time...

Big Puma
01-26-2019, 11:59
It took a little longer than 5 minutes as in FB there were postings about him maybe starting on Thursday or so...

but yes, I see what you mean by not a long time...

I was essentially at the 75% of the Appalachian Trail. 2,200 Miles! I hung out in a hotel and drank beer and ate a lot of food and watched the US Open at Shinnecocke. I felt guilty for having spent multiple days in a hotel so I decided I’d do VT in one go, which I essentially did until I was recognized by a driver as being the “lost” kid.

Big Puma
01-26-2019, 12:03
Also, I tried to check messages so many times. So for those condemning me for not checking in, think otherwise. T-Mobile in VT is terrible. I literally climbed fire towers to see if I had any messages. I also checked at every major roadway. I didn’t have signal.

tdoczi
01-26-2019, 14:08
I was essentially at the 75% of the Appalachian Trail. 2,200 Miles! I hung out in a hotel and drank beer and ate a lot of food and watched the US Open at Shinnecocke. I felt guilty for having spent multiple days in a hotel so I decided I’d do VT in one go, which I essentially did until I was recognized by a driver as being the “lost” kid.

so like i said, not out hiking that whole time.